Between the Sticks

3 May 2013

New autobiography by Alan Hodgkinson now on sale

One of football's true gentlemen tells his story with the release of 'Alan Hodgkinson- Life Between the Sticks'

Alan Hodgkinson, MBE, spent the last seven seasons of an extraordinary 60 years in football as goalkeeping coach with the U's. After 650 games for Sheffield United and two world cups with England, Alan turned his attention to becoming the first full-time goalkeeper coach in the country.

His new book, published by Harper Collins, tells the story of a life in football: from his days as a trainee at Worksop Town in the '50s, to his big-money move to Sheffield United (where his signing-on fee was a new suit for ‘courting’), to England duty, as well as a glittering coaching career at Man United, Rangers and with Scotland.

It is a story that features legends of the game such as Matthews, Charlton, Best, and Pele, all of whom Alan has played with or against.

‘Between the Sticks’ is a fantastic read and Alan told us how pleased he is to be able to tell his story:

"I am very proud of the book," he told www.oufc.co.uk. "It has taken a year or so to get the book together but people have been very kind and I hope that fans enjoy it. Oxford was my last club but I loved everything about it, especially the fans and the trip to Wembley in 2010 is something I will never forget."

Alan will be our guest at a forthcoming game to sign copies of the book, which is available now from all good booksellers and online from the usual outlets.